This great story was sent by family members and truly warms the heart. Hopefully it will post better on this try as it would be great for everyone to enjoy the story as I did. Doug

The Best Day Of Fishing Ever! Some fishing stories are a little hard to believe but this guy has pictures to prove his story . . . I've heard of salmon jumping into boats, but never anything quite like this . . .
Tom Satre told the Sitka Gazette that he was out with a charter group on his 62-foot fishing vessel when four juvenile black-tailed deer swam directly toward his boat
This is a picture I took of the rescued bucks on the back of my boat, the Alaska Quest. We headed for Taku Harbour. Once we reached the dock, the first buck that we had pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back as if to say 'thank you' and disappeared into the forest. After a bit of prodding and assistance, two more followed, but the smallest deer needed a little more help.

Quote:"They swam right toward the boat," he said. "Then, they started to circle the boat. They were looking up and looked like they needed help."

This was the first time he'd ever seen deer in this much distress, Satre said. They were foaming at the mouth, and not able to make it onto the swim step, they instead swam under it. The group knew something had to be done.

Satre guessed the bucks were of last year since their antlers were very small, for some just nubbins, and hardly large enough for him to grab on to. So he fashioned a lasso and, one by one, hauled them by the neck onto the back of the boat.

Speaking of deer rescues, here's one that happened nearby. Three deer were stranded on a frozen lake. Evidently it was so slippery they couldn't get a good footing and over time, became too exhausted.